


But Count The Cost

by HouseofSannae



Series: Kingdom Hearts Ψ: The Seeker of Darkness [26]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, plotted pre-Kingdom Hearts III, written post-Re:Mind
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:55:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25178761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HouseofSannae/pseuds/HouseofSannae
Summary: Demons run when a good man goes to warNight will fall and drown the sunWhen a good man goes to warFriendship dies and true love liesNight will fall and the dark will riseWhen a good man goes to warDemons run, but count the costThe battle's won, but...
Series: Kingdom Hearts Ψ: The Seeker of Darkness [26]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/960336
Comments: 65
Kudos: 87





	But Count The Cost

**Author's Note:**

> - _Doctor Who_ , "A Good Man Goes To War"

Sora shot forwards, landing flat on his back. While the Light Corridor’s entrance had been formed beneath his feet, its exit was resolutely vertical, meaning he’d left it feet-first. He hurried to his feet, terrified. Even the calm atmosphere of the Destiny Islands wasn’t helping.

“Mom,” he said, quietly, and started for home at a dead run.

It was around midday, and there was the normal hustle and bustle. The main island had a vibrant tourism industry, but that was mostly relegated to the commercial districts. The residential areas that he was running through weren’t as busy, which meant he had no large crowd to make his way through.

He vaulted over the gate and ran for the back door, and promptly slammed face first into it. He stumbled back, blinking. “What?” His mom always left the back door open. A thousand fears swirled through Sora’s head. If it was locked, then –

Wait.

“New house,” Sora muttered to himself, squeezing his eyes shut in relief. “New house, new house, new house.” The last time he’d been home, she’d taken him to see the property. It was completely possible she might have finished moving by now. With that in mind, he took off running in the direction of the new house.

This time, the back door _was_ unlocked, and Sora paused in the kitchen. “Mom?!” he called, the desperation evident in his voice. “Mom!?”

No response.

“No, no, no,” he muttered under his breath, and searched the house, but she was nowhere to be found. He stepped out of the house, musing over where she could be at this time of day. There was the docks, the grocery store, maybe over at a friend’s–?

There was a sharp report, and a purple crystal shot into the air. Sora’s eyes widened and his blood ran cold. “ _No_ , no no no no…” He rushed towards the area the shot had come from.

This time, there _was_ a crowd of people, but Sora elbowed his way through and stepped out into a rough circle that had formed around the centre of one of the larger plazas.

At the centre stood Xigbar, one arrowgun held loosely in his hand.

His other arm was holding Sora’s mother’s hands behind her back.

“Hey, kiddo, good to see you. Now, your mother and I have been talking, and she agrees that you should probably convince Vanitas to give me that Keyblade! What do you say?”

Sora glared, and, not caring who was watching, summoned his Keyblade. There was an alarmed murmur through the crowd, a good amount of whom had known Sora since he’d been a toddler. “Get away from her,” he ordered.

Xigbar sighed. “Look, kid, this is very simple. I haven’t hurt her, _yet_. And that ‘yet’ is never gonna come to pass, as long as I get what I want. Because, trust me,” he added, hefting the arrowgun. “At this distance, you’re not faster than I am.”

“Mom?” Sora called, ignoring him. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine, Sora,” she said, in a very calm voice that he recognized as her trying not to worry him. “He hasn’t hurt me.”

“Yet,” Xigbar offered, and they both glared at him.

“Whatever it is he wants, I have a feeling you shouldn’t give it to him,” Sora’s mother continued.

“Mom–” Sora said, but she shook her head.

“Sora, listen to me. I love you. I’m very proud of you. And I know you’re going to do what’s right.”

“You sure you know him all that well?” Xigbar asked. “Right about now’s usually when he does something dumb, but heroic.”

“I think I know my son better than you do,” she replied, tone and glare both frosty.

There was a muffled gasp from the crowd as three giant white ovals appeared behind Sora. Through them fell Roxas, Xion, and Naminé.

“Hey! Get the fuck away from her!” Roxas snarled, taking in the situation instantly as they rose to their feet. Another gasp rippled through the crowd as they summoned their own Keyblades.

“Where’s everyone else?” Sora asked, not taking his eyes of Xigbar.

“Still getting out of the gravity trap,” Naminé said. “We went on ahead.”

“Glad you did,” Sora replied. “Xigbar! Let her go!”

“Are you still not a Keyblade Master?” Xigbar asked. “Huh, maybe looking real angry isn’t the only qualifier.” He grinned, nastily.

“We’ve got to get her away from him,” Xion said, in an undertone.

“He’s too fast,” Sora said. “We can’t close the distance in time.”

Roxas was frowning. “Well… maybe _you_ can’t,” he murmured. “The three of us… Can you keep him talking?”

“I’m not sure I could get him to _stop_ ,” Sora said.

“Yeah, I know exactly what you mean,” Roxas agreed.

“Why do you even want that Keyblade?” Sora challenged, turning back to Xigbar. “What’s in it for you?”

“Why do I want that Keyblade?” Xigbar repeated, confused. “Do you know what a Keyblade can get you? It’s power. It’s _freedom_. Why stick in one place when there’s _so many_ worlds out there to explore? To visit? To _exploit?_ ” He grinned. “There’s wonders out there among the worlds, kiddo. Who wouldn’t want to have access to that?”

“That’s it?” Sora demanded. “Just greed?”

“Hey, greed can be good. For the greedy,” Xigbar said.

“A selfish reason like that isn’t good enough!” Sora challenged. “You wouldn’t be worthy even if you had that Keyblade!”

Xigbar smirked. “Might be true on my own, but don’t forget, I’ve got a bit of a Keyblade wielder’s heart inside my own. If that was good enough for _you_ to use a Keyblade you weren’t worthy of, it’s good enough for me.”

“I _proved_ myself worthy of this Keyblade,” Sora said. “You never could!”

“Yeah, well, not like that’s gonna matter,” Xigbar said, still smirking. “There’s nothing the four of you can do that’ll–”

He was cut off by a rapidly appearing Dark Corridor, through which Roxas flew, slashing with his Keyblade. Caught off-guard, Xigbar brought up his arrowgun to block the strike. On his other side, another Dark Corridor opened, through which Naminé struck in the same manner. Xigbar let go of Sora’s mother’s hands to block with his other arrowgun, and Sora rushed forwards, pulling her to safety.

“What? How in the hell–?” Xigbar asked, looking from them to the Roxas, Xion, and Naminé still standing behind Sora.

As he watched, Naminé let the Decoy spell go, and they faded from existence. “Oh, you clever little sneaks,” Xigbar sneered. While he’d been talking, Naminé had cast the spell, and they had stepped backwards, vanishing into the crowd. “You think this is enough to stop me, right? As _i_ –”

He was cut off by a piece of wrought metal, formed in the shape of the old Destiny Islands character meaning “darkness”, erupting through the centre of his chest.

“I’m sorry,” Xion said, sweetly, rising out of the shadows behind him. “Did you… _forget_ about me?”

Xigbar turned his head, looking backwards with his one good eye, as blood leaked from the wound in his chest. “Poppet… you… _clever girl_ …” he choked out, and then the light left his eye. Xion stepped backwards, banishing her Keyblade, and the man known as Xigbar fell to the ground, dead.

“Xion!” Roxas said, similarly banishing his Keyblade and hurrying over to her. “Are you all right?”

Xion stared at Xigbar’s body on the ground. “I’m… fine…” she said, tonelessly.

“Bullshit, no you’re not,” Roxas said, and held out his arms. Xion took one look at him, and burst into tears, practically falling into the hug.

“Mom, are you okay?” Sora asked.

She nodded. “A little confused, a little scared, but I’m okay. Thank you. All of you.”

Another series of Light Corridors opened up in the middle of the plaza, and everyone else burst through, weapons at the ready. “All right, where is he? Where…” Kairi let her voice trail off, and lowered her Keyblade, seeing the surrounding crowd of people. “Oh… whoops.”

“Kairi,” came a voice from off to the side, and Kairi turned to see a middle-aged, somewhat rotund man with dark hair and a calming presence gently move through the crowd. “I think… we might have some explaining to do.”

Kairi gulped. “Uh… yeah, Dad, I think we do.”

Behind her, Donald sighed. “Well… so much for the World Order.”

A ways down one of the streets that led to the plaza, there stood a small outdoor café. All of its customers and staff had ran to see the commotion; all save one.

A young-ish looking man sat at the table, idly sipping a glass of paopu juice. He’d watched as the eye-patched man had brought the woman down the street. Age and experience had told him not to bother getting involved. That was the sort of thing best left to the young.

He caught the sight of his own face reflected in the glass and smiled to himself. It had been a long time since he’d seen his own face. And not someone else’s, instead.

The man, though… he’d seen him before. About thirteen years ago… on a world called Radiant Garden.

Yes, that was it. The man had been a guard who worked at the castle. At the time, he’d considered taking the man as a new vessel… but ultimately, he’d decided against it. His then-current vessel, a man named Steiner, had still been young, and there had been nothing to have been gained from taking another so soon.

And that had been a fortuitous decision. He’d watched the guard make contact with the then-owner of the Gazing Eye, and while he had lamented the missed opportunity, the sheer convolutedness of what had followed made him glad he’d escaped it.

That said, the subsequent fall of Radiant Garden and rise of the Organization XIII had brought with it an unexpected boon. He’d gone to the world once known as the Land of Departure, then known as Castle Oblivion. He’d arrived after all but one of the squatters within the building had left, and had happened upon the research left behind by the Organization’s chief scientist, Vexen, after his death at the hands of a colleague. The Castle hadn’t forced him through its memory trials – and for good reason. He’d been one of the people who’d helped build it, after all. The Replica project was nowhere near complete enough to make a fully formed body, but experience had taught him methods and techniques that Vexen could only have dreamed of stumbling upon.

He smiled again, admiring his face – _his_ face, for the first time in countless lifetimes. And with the process he’d completed and memorized, he’d never have to steal someone else’s ever again. The silver hair was just the way he remembered it. His eyes, though… one a deep blue, the other a warm honey gold… he’d forgotten which one was his natural eye colour.

If one of them even was.

His hand abruptly tightened on the glass. Far up the street, more people had arrived.

One of them held the Gazing Eye. He could feel it.

“So it’s passed from master to student yet again,” he murmured to himself. In a way, he was grateful. There was no way he could have stolen it from Master Xehanort – the old goat was too conniving, too cautious, even in his youth.

Over the rim of his glass, he eyed the black-haired youth who now held the Gazing Eye. “Vanitas, huh?” he murmured to himself. “Well, I’ll be watching your career with great interest.”

He stood up from his chair, taking the now-empty glass back to the counter. He’d already paid, so he stepped out from the café’s veranda and headed for the alley between the café and the next shop over.

As he walked past his table, a large green steamer trunk rose up on a thousand miniature legs and followed him.

He smiled at it. He’d gotten the idea from a book he’d read once. It had been a simple matter to rig up the parts necessary, and charm them to work. Now, he could be assured that the box would follow him wherever he went. No more dragging it behind him.

He’d also gotten the idea of how to disguise it from a different book. If one were to open this green trunk… inside one would find a slightly smaller black box, sealed with thirteen locks. Hidden in plain sight.

It was much safer than leaving it where someone could find it. Who could know whose hands it might fall into that way?

He took one last look at the assembled Keybearers, now stumbling through an explanation of the existence of multiple worlds to the general populace of the Destiny Islands, with assistance from the Islands’ own mayor. He smiled.

He’d been waiting such a long time to get his hands back on the Gazing Eye. A few more years weren’t going to hurt.

In the privacy of the alleyway, he held out his hand, and summoned his own Keyblade – _his_ Keyblade, the one he’d started with, not the one his Master had given him to pass on, and subsequently track through the long ages. No, this was the Keyblade he’d used as he trained to become the Master he now was. The one that came from his own heart. The one that had been used as the model for countless more.

There were many like it. But the true Starlight had always been _his_.

Luxu raised Starlight and summoned a Light Corridor. “Congratulations, everyone, on a job well done,” he murmured to himself. “And as you look to the future… may your hearts be your guiding Keys.” He smiled, and stepped through.

**Author's Note:**

> _Give ‘em the old razzle-dazzle_   
>  _Razzle-dazzle ‘em_   
>  _Give them an act that’s unassailable_   
>  _They’ll wait a year ‘til you’re available_   
>  _Give ‘em the old double-whammy_   
>  _Daze and dizzy ‘em_   
>  _Show ‘em the first-rate sorcerer you are_   
>  _As long as you keep ‘em way off balance_   
>  _How can they spot you got no talents?_   
>  _Razzle-dazzle ‘em_   
>  _Razzle-dazzle ‘em_   
>  _Razzle-dazzle ‘em_   
>  _And they’ll make you a star!_
> 
> Oh please, did you really think I was going to kill Sora’s mother? As _if_.  
> That’s how I was _going_ to start these notes, when I first planned this out, but then something happened.   
> Something called Kingdom Hearts III.   
> The reveal that Xigbar had been Luxu the entire time caught me entirely by surprise. It was a great twist, and meant we’re already familiar with the likely main villain of the next arc.   
> However, for me as a fic writer, it presented a problem. I already had plans for Xigbar, and further plans for Braig. And Braig being Luxu tossed those plans in the junk heap.   
> And then I realized something.   
> I’m writing a _canon **divergent** AU_.   
> All I had to do was move the divergence point a little earlier. It wouldn’t even be the first time.  
> They say the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing people he doesn’t exist. I would, however, like to submit the inverse: The greatest trick the devil ever pulled is convincing people he does exist.   
> This was a decision I made before Xigbar ever showed up in the series. His every appearance, every line was written with this secret in mind. “But, Sannae!” you say. “What about all the KHUx references?”  
> Look back. Read carefully.   
> Xigbar has never once referenced KHUx.   
> Everything he’s said, everything he’s alluded to, has been about KH2, Days, BBS, 3D, or the brief period of time in which Ven was Xehanort’s apprentice.  
> This is why I originally wanted Xigbar to fight Aqua. How could I have him fight Ven without KHUx coming up?  
> Then I realized I _had_ to have him fight Ven. And I had to do the same thing I’d been doing with him: make cryptic remarks that aren’t about what you think they’re about. And that’s why I had so much fun writing that fight.  
> I think that’s the meat of what happened here. The real Luxu will return, someday, but Maleficent will be getting her piece first. Luxu’s hideaway for the box is conceptually inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s The Purloined Letter and executionally inspired by the Luggage from Discworld, which are the two books he's talking about. Why Steiner from FF9 as Luxu's previous vessel? Cause he sucks and I don’t want to use him ever.   
> Oh, I should also probably point out that I'm not intending a resemblance to Yozora with Luxu's real face. Silver hair and heterochromia aside. It just kind of turned out that way.   
> Yes, I still have plans for Braig. "Oh," you say, "So Xigbar here was still a Nobody?"  
> Nope!  
> "But..." you say.  
> "Remember that this is a setting where time travel has been brought into play," I say. And that's all I _will_ say. We'll see Braig again at some point. Nowhere soon.  
> And now, where do we go from here? Well, join me in another two weeks to see if Aqua can go the distance... and pay the price of freedom.   
> Boy, oh boy. It sure is steep.   
> Until next time!


End file.
